Wooden sheathing



July 8, 1941. N. RIPPEN WOODEN SHEATHING Filed 1:60.15. 1931 13 au/ nls w z N ...QJRS

. and then through the plating; a plank of the vfollowing description and in the accompanying Patented July 8, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEA z,24s,e9o

WOODEN 'BREATHING Nicholas Rippen, New York, N. Y. Application neeemhell i5, 193iI serial Ne. saurai 's claims. (ci. 114-84) v I metal plate, otherwise termed sheathed member,

My invention relates to the attaching of wooden sheathing to the shell-plating of shellplated structures, such as, for example, ships, barges and the like.

Heretofore, wooden she thing has been applied to shell-plating in many ways, of which the following are typical examples: bolts or rivets are passed through the sheathing from its outside of sheathing isA disposed within either a pair of separate flanges welded o'r riveted to ,the plating or b etween the flanges of a channel which is previously welded or riveted to the plating, the several parts then all being secured together by means of long bolts passing through them in a direction parallel to the plating; a bolt about.

half as long as the sheathing is thick is welded vto the plating and pierces the inner portion of the sheathing, the threaded end of the bolt presenting itself in an enlarged hole (countersunk` hole) in the outer'portion of the sheathing for a large washer and a nut to be applied thereon; periodically replaceable outer sheathing is spiked on to permanently attached inner sheathing. In addition to the above, many other more or less ineffectual methods have been employed. In common, they all suffer from at least the rst two of the following disadvantages: long before the sheathing has been entirely worn down, the

securing means are either deprived of their se- 2 indicates the sheathing thereon, and 3, 3' indicates the plug, 3 indicating the main bodyportion and 8f, the neck portion thereof.

In Figures 1 and 2, 8 indicates a -major through-opening in thesheathing, so termed because it extends through from the inner to the outer surfaces of the sheathing, 'the -terms incuring function by abrasion, corrosion, unscrewing, distortion or otherwise, or they break off entirely, all' with the ensuing result that the sheathing falls oif half-used; after va short period of use, the abrading process acting on the sheathing exposes isolated, protruding, more or less sharp-ended securing elements jeopardizing the shell-plating of neighboring craft, injuringdocks or other things; a costly degree of accuracy is required; dilapidated appearance after brief term. of service; an insufncient amount of retentive force is exerted on the sheathing even after it has been newly applied.

The agct of my invention is to eliminate all ve mentioned disadvantages. In' the drawings, my method will .be made clear.

Figure 1 represents a plan view from top of my improved type of sheathing,`partly broken to disclose the interior` thereof.

Figure 2 represents a taken lon the line m-z in Figure 1.

vFigures .3, 4 and 5 represent modifications in approximately half-cross-sectional views.

In all of the figures, .I indicates the1 sheathed,

cross-sectional view ner and outer beingunderstood to refer to parts and positions respectively adjacent to and spaced from the metal plate. The major through-opening consists of an inner part having a thread, I0, and an outer part having a thread, I. The sheathing consists of an inner portion and an outer portion, respectively corresponding to said inner and outer parts of-said major through-opening.

The numeral 9 indicates the hollow holding member connecting or securing the sheathing to the platef The term primary means" hereinrefers to the means securing the member tothe plate, which, in this particularexample, is a weld, I3. 'I'he term secondary means herein refers to the means securing the member to the innerl portion of the sheathing. In this particular example,` the secondary means comprises 32, an external male thread on the holding member, said thread cooperating with thread Non the said inner part of said major through-opening. Although the natural coherent force exercised by the inner and outer portions of the .sheathing on one another may suice, in some instances,

without additinal securing means for the outer portion thereof, I havepnevertheless provided such additional means for the function mentioned, and have adopted the term "supplementary means herein for this additional' means of securing the outer portion of the sheathing to the holding member, which means, in this instance, is a plug, 3, 3', above mentioned. Thel main body-portion, 3 is provided with a male.

thread, B, cooperatingv with thread. I, and the neck-portion is provided with a female thread,

Il, cooperating with an internal male thread, 33,

on the inside of the holding member, which is constituted preferably' of metal. The plug, al though preferably harder than the sheathing, should be softer than the holding member, so

1 that when the sheathing abrades, the rate of ab.-

rasion of the lplug will lnot differ therefrom so greatly as to leave a part of it always protruding considerably with respect to the outer surface of the abraded sheathing. For instance if pine Asheathing is employed, the holding member will be preferably of steel, but not a casting, and the l plug may suitably be of greenheart or lignum vitae or some hard and tough composition material, such as, for example, synthetic resinous material. In view of the fact that the hollow interior of the holding member is for the purpose of giving it an internally threaded, cylindrical form to receive the threaded neck-portion of the plug serving as a medium of securing the outer portion of the sheathing to the holding member, it is obvious that said hollow interior need not necessarily be a through opening as shown in Figures 1 and 2, said through-opening, to distinguish it from the major through-opening,be ing hereinafter referred to as the through-opening." In short, the open inner end thereof, which is disposed substantially in the "minor i plane of the sheathed surface, 3|, of the plate,

may be closed'with a more or less imperforate wall bearing an internally threaded, centrally disposed part into which a stud-screw welded on to -said sheathed surface' may be screwed to secure said hollow holding member to said plate.

However, this could not be made as strong as the method of the minor through-opening with its relatively broad area of secured contact withv the plate, and I therefore prefer the latter method, although the former falls within the scope of my invention. Numerals I2 and I2' indicate two of a plurality of holes in the holding member intended for cooperation with a turning tool in screwing the holding member into the major throughopening. The inner part of the inside of the holding member, where these holes appear and where the weld, I3. is applied, is left unthreaded and in the original thickness, so that, when the welding is applied,.it need not be accompanied by the inconvenience of application occasioned by an otherwise obstructing innermost thread.

The plug is provided with a plurality of holes, of which 'l and 1' appear in the views. These holes may receive the tongues of a suitable turning tool screwing the plug into the two throughopenings, subsequently to be filled with miniature plugs, of which two are indicated by 6 and 6', or the latter may represent the cut-off stumps of a plurality of lugs previously-used for the same purpose of screwing the plug into place.

It is understood that female threads, I0 and Il, will not preferably be formed previously to assembling, but will be allowed to be cut by the respective threads, 32 and 33, so that the woodparticles in the vicinity of the holding member on both inside and outside of it will be considerably compressed to increase the retentive force between the various parts mentioned. However, since-the plug is only of intermediatehardness, it will be necessary in most instances to previously cut female thread, I. It will be noted.

that the main body-portion and the neck-por- 6 tion of the plug must simultaneously screw into the outer part of the major, through-opening and the minorthrough-opening respectively. In inserting the plug, it may be desirable to simultaneously introduce a watertight glue, red-or white lead or other suitable binding and securing substance. Another matter for thought is to introduce'the plug when in. a very dry state,

so that when -swelled .with the saturating water around it, its tightness of flt will be thereby considerably enhanced.

holding member will be exposed too early in thei life of the sheathing, although no sooner than prevailing methods, to say the least. With such thinsheathing, I prefer to use the type of holding member illustrated in Figures 4 and 5. It will benoted in Figures 1 and 2 that the retentive force exercised by the very small innermost part of the neck-portion disposed between the innermost thread and the weld is quite nominal, and that if the total thickness of the holding member should be reduced to correspond withreduced thicknesses of sheathing While at the same time preserving the retentive force of .the one inch holding member, it would be necessary to eliminate the weld as shown and Ireplace it with effectively retentive innermost parts of the neck-portion. 'I'his can be done, within the scope of my invention, by supplying the holding member with double walls, as shown in Figures 4 and 5, applying the weld between the walls,l thus makingno demand on, the effective contact.

area on the inside of the inner wall holding the vneck-portion. r

Figure 5 represents approximately a halfcross-sectional view of a double-walled holding member, the reader being requested to picture an identical cross-sectionally viewed part a few inches away from the one shown, together representing the entire holding member .in crosssectional view. The two walls, 2B and 28, may be assumed to be bracingly interconnected at suitable intervals by means of webs, which may be also endowed with the function of cooperating with a turning tool, thus' dispensing with elements'such as holes I2 and I2. Thevspace between the walls is indicated by 28, the external thread by 23, the internalA thread by 30 and is made of minimum thickness-three sixteenth of an inch.

In Figure 3, we have a variation of the single- 5. walled type. 'Ihe external thread of the type in Figures i and 2. is replaced by an inwardly tapered wall bearing against a correspondingly tapered .inner part ofthe major' through-opening, the inner end of said major through-opening therefore'being smaller. than the other or outer end thereof. In other words, the outer contour of the holding member corresponds to that of a truncated cone tapering toward the sheathedplate. for which we vmust of course picture the omitted 5 other half of the cross-sectional view of the compraczice. l The thickness of the sheathing is four I inches retained by a holding member one inch'7'5 riousiy screwing the member.into piace, it is lplete holding member. .I regard this type as superior to the externally threaded type in Figures 1 and 2 because the former enjoys the following advantages: it exercises enhanced retentive force on the inner part of the maiorl through-opening because the said' part is not weakenedl by being threaded; the tapered holding member is cheaper to produce; it is very much cheaper to apply because, instead of labosimply shoved in with a single, quick4 movement.

' The degree of slope shams be selected with lregard to possible shrinking of the sheathing,

especially when docked in dry-dock, and the concomitant danger offalling ofi.- I believe a fteenV degree of slope should be ample. The larger sheathing will require larger through-openings and larger plugs and the slope of the cone should be steeper in them. The holding -member is indicated by I 5. the tapered outside surface of the wall by I4, the internally threaded inside Vsurface of the wall by 22 and the weld by I1.

Figure 4 illustrates the combination of a tapered holding member and double walls therein.

. The double walls are indicated by 24 and -2li, the

ous parts in lprevious systems of sheathing isnot required in my invention. Instead of applying a template to the shell-plating or holding against it the previously bored out sheathing to chalk the exact positions where bolts or rivets must be subsequently applied, y simple procedure is employed: The .sheathing is bored out and threaded' at the desired places and the holding members are inserted, The sheathing is then placed against the shell-plating and two, three or lfour strips are tack-welded into a .corresponding number of sections of the sheathed surface of the plating exposed through the major through-openings, it being understood -that a plank of sheathing may have -perhaps eight holding members but a strip is tackwelded in each of only two or three of the through-openings. The strip is then mauled over until it presses the sheathing against the plate sufllcien'tly'to tack-weld the holding member thereto.- The strip is tack-.welded on to the plate in endwise relation thereto. It may be of cold rolled steel or other suitable material. After the holding members have been tack-welded, the strips are burnt off with'an acetylene torch or otherwise removed, and the welding' of the holding members `to the plate is completed. When the plating is flat and the planks of sheathing are absolutely flat, the use of'these strips will not be necessary, as a moderate amount of pressure will suffice to bring the. sheathing into continuous contact' with the plate.

Since the plug is a continuously effective. retaining element throughout all stages of abrasion of the sheathing. it is obvious that my invention is not only adapted to curved sheathingy but even to laminated types should they ever be desired.' Therefore not only may the guards' of barges embody the invention, Vbut the entire sides and keel of barges and even modeled vessels may incorporate it. e

I'claim;

1. The combination of a metal-plate, wooden sheathing thereon, a holding member having a minor through-opening. one of whose ends being disposed substantially in the plane of the sheathed surface vof said plate.' said member fixing said sheathing on to sa' plate, primary means for securing said member to said plate. and secondary means for securing said member to said sheathing, ysaid primary means comprising at least one bead of welding.said member having double. spaced walls, the space between- .said walls being sumclently large izo-permit the the following ing said sheathing application of said bead between said walls at their innery ends with respect to said plate.

2. 'Ihe combination of a sheathed member,

sheathing thereon, a holding member'having a minor thru-opening of whose endsone is disposedadjacent to said Asheathed member, primary means securing said holding member to said sheathed member, and secondary means securto said holding member, said primary means comprising a weld deposited be- J tween said holding member and said sheathed `member inside ofsaid minor thru-opening,

3. The combination of a sheathed member, sheathing thereon having an internally threaded major thru-opening of whose end one is disposed adjacent to said sheathed member, an externally threaded holding member having a minor thru-opening of whose ends one is disposed adjacent to said sheathed member, primary 5. The combination `of a sheathed member. l

- said holding member means securing said holding member to said sheathedmember, and secondary means securing said sheathing to said holding member', said primary means comprising a weld deposited between said holding member and said sheathed member inside of said minor thru-opening, said secondary means comprising the threaded surface of said major thru-opening.

4. The combination of a sheathed member, sheathing thereon having a major thru-opening of whose ends is disposed adjacent to said sheathed member, a holding member xing said sheathing on to said sheathed member and having the outer form substantially of a truncated cone, said holding member` opening of whose ends one is disposed adjacent to saidsheathed member, primary means securing said holding member to said sheathed member, arid secondary means securing saidV sheathing Vto said holding member, said prima means said holding member in wedged contact with a" correspondingly tapered surface of vsaid major thru-opening defining a portion thereof adjacent to said sheathed member.

sheathing thereon having a major thru-opening of whose ends one is disposed adjacent to said sheathed member, a holding member -disposed within said major thru-opening, xing said sheathingon to said sheathed member and having a minor thru-opening oflwhose ends one is disposed adjacent to said sheathed' member, being welded internally thereof to said sheathed member and having a. thickness less than that of said sheathing.

vsheathing on to saidl 6. The` combination of a sheathed member, 'sheathing thereon having a major thru-opening of whose ends one is disposed adjacent to said sheathed member, a holding member disposed within said major thru-opening, fixing saidA sheathed member and having a'minor thru-openingof whose ends one is disposed adjacent to said sheathed member, said holding member being welded internally thereof to said sheathed. member and' having a thickness less than that of said sheathing. at least part of said maior thru-opening having thev form substantially of a truncated cone.

'1. The combination oi a sheathed member.

r sheathing thereon having a major thru-opening of whose ends one is disposed adjacent to said vsheathed member, aholding member disposed having a minor' thruwithin samv muoi- 'tnruwpenmm man;

sheathing on 'to said sheathed member and having a minor thru-opening of whose ends one is disposed adjacent to said sheathed member, said holdinamembe'r being welded internally thereof` laidA having surfaces aasaaao 4 opening of whose ends one is disposed adjacent to said sheathed member. said holding member being welded internally thereof to said sheathed member and havin: a thickness less than that of said sheathing.

9. 'I'he combination of a sheathed member. sheathing thereon having a major thru-opening of whose ends one is-disposed .gdjacent to said sheathed member, a double-walled holding member disposed within said major thru-opening;

fixing said sheathing on to said sheathed member and having-sl minor thru-opening oi' whose ends one is adjacent to said sheathed member. said holding member being welded internally 15 thereof to said sheathed' member. t

' NICHOLAS RIPPEN. 

